Training Log Archive: Bash

Lots of behind the scenes work for the dental office in the past couple of days. I may have to start working in the clinic for the first time ever. We’re very short-staffed and it’s been difficult to find people willing to trade a summer vacation on CERB for employment as a health care worker during a pandemic. Go figure.

The Summer Scavenger Hunt is encouraging me to put more thought and creativity into my runs. For the 1+ hour Podcast Run, I ordered lightweight, waterproof bone conduction headphones after noticing a random Aftershokz sale online. I haven't done much shopping for fun things lately, unless you count chocolate - and yes, we should count chocolate. I've only used the headphones once but I like them so far.

I planned to listen to the first half of Billy Yang's long interview with the inspiring, articulate mountain athlete Adam Campbell, who is a former fellow member of the Salomon Flight Crew and a friend of our Canmore friends, so we've spent a little time with him. Their conversation was so genuine, deeply emotional and engaging that I had to listen for another hour to the end of the podcast after my run was over. Luckily, I had lots of yard work and veggie garden weeding to do.











[A GPS watch I haven't used recently messed up near the start. I reduced the distance since I know how far it is to one of the early landmarks.]

Wilberto (aka Wayne Leek) and Eva were passing through our neighbourhood and arranged to meet us at Island Lake for a paddle. 'Bent, Eva and I were on SUPs while Wilberto used his pack raft in true adventure racer style.





Island Lake isn't renting watercraft right now so there weren't many other boats on the water. They warned us that the yellow flag was up and recommended that we stick to the east arm of the lake where there would be less wind.









There was still plenty of wind! I never felt unsafe but I did wonder whether our forward progress might slow down to the point where we'd want to get out and carry our boats back to the parking lot along the shoreline trail. Luckily, it didn't come to that. We ducked behind islands as much as we could as we made our way upwind.













Really nice to see W&E and enjoy a distanced catch-up!

Single track ride around Palgrave East, which is growing lush poison ivy around several trails that usually stay rideable all summer. The north half of the park is almost poison ivy-free, luckily.

The hardest part of the ride was the short section of Finnerty Sideroad back to our house. They're doing some road work and I ended up walking my bike for part of it because the gravel was so loose.

I may as well claim the Summer Scavenger Hunt Cross Training badge today - 30 minutes of a non-running activity. This was never going to be a big challenge for me since I'm pretty good at not running!

Just to get y'all in the mood for Canada Day!

This was a day of wildlife sightings, starting with a couple of animals who were eager to help me start my day.



When I was leaving for the farm market, I saw that the #&*@!! gypsy moth caterpillars have almost finished eating all the leaves on our 3 pyramidal oaks, and they continue to work on a number of our other trees. Grrrr.





This guy spent the day hanging out in our front yard. After our double-skunking earlier this month, I'm really hoping our pooches keep their social distance.



He moved to a different tree later and demonstrated that he has no fear of heights.

Everything is slower and more complicated in a pandemic so I ended up with a small window for a workout. The Summer Scavenger Hunt Fastest Km/Mile badge is perfect for a short run.

The only rule for the challenge is to run 1 km fast. They'll award bonus points to the fastest and slowest people to do 1 km. For me to compete in a Slowest 1 Km Runner contest would be unfair to the other participants - like taking candy from a baby - so I ran my kilometre "fast" and I'm pretty sure I lost.

I ran on our country road so I had the additional challenges of new gravel, hills and a few vehicles raising dust. I did 1 km warm-up, 1 km "fast" run and 1 km cooldown. Then it was dinner time.

I may try this challenge again later in the summer. My hamstrings were screaming from Mrs. Gally's boot camp yesterday, which didn't help.

Eco-Challenge Fiji 2019 is coming to Amazon Prime on Aug. 14, airing as 10 episodes of "World's Toughest Race". Check out Bob and Hansel of Team Canada Adventure at 1:42 in the trailer.





We'd planned to get some people together for a watching party but I guess it'll have to be virtual.

Zoom Boot Camp with Mrs. Gally - lots of full body exercises built on squats, deadlifts and lunges. Now that she's a certified yoga instructor, the cool down is based on yoga, and she says yoga-ish stuff like, "If it's available to you, do X", where "X" is hard. She leads a tough workout and mixes it up each week. I've never been big on driving to the gym but this works well. I'll keep this class on my schedule post-pandemic if she keeps doing it.

Before the next storm arrived, I did the Trash Talk badge for the Summer Scavenger Hunt. This is a run of 35+ minutes where you pick up at least 5 pieces of garbage. I'll admit this wasn't my favourite challenge to do in a pandemic. You can tell the RDs are in B.C. where the situation has improved a lot!

But it was easy enough to take precautions. I saved the trash collection for the last 1.5 km of my run (Lap 2 on my GPS track). I tied a grocery bag to my waist belt and kept my hand and forearm covered with a newspaper bag while picking up trash. (I didn't want to waste a real glove.) Everything I picked up was food packaging and drink containers.

To be honest, I had to go out of my way to find litter. When most parks were closed, visitors flooded into Palgrave Forest and left coffee cups behind but those people are mostly gone now. Mountain bikers are too busy staying upright while bumping over roots to mess up the forest. So after 5.5 km of trash-free trail running, I went out to the Finnerty Sideroad parking lot and found garbage, as expected. I ran home along the gravel road and found a few more pieces for my collection. I left an empty cardboard Coors box in the middle of the road since it was too big for my little garbage bag.

My foot may have been a little less sore today. Or maybe my standards are just getting lower.

So here's what the kids do these days: submit a resume on the weekend, book a Zoom interview less than 24 hours ahead of time, then don't show up (or phone or email). We'd been warned about this phenomenon by other dentists. I guess there's still a chance that she had a family emergency or a serious car accident but it's entirely possible that she won't get the job.

On a happier note, 'Bent tested negative for Covid-19. He only got tested because he works in health care; he had no symptoms. Anyone want a hug?

Day 3 of the "We're Going Streaking" challenge - a run around Palgrave East. Given the weather on the days I chose, this could have been called the "Hot and Bothered" challenge. The past few days should help with heat acclimation.

As for the bothered part, I had a brief, unexpected meltdown on my own while putting on my shoes. I'm tired of the pandemic, tired of work stress every day of the week, tired of my heel injury, tired of grocery shopping feeling like going to war, tired of learning employment law, tired of CERB rules that discourage part-timers from returning to work, tired of the house being messy, tired of not seeing friends, tired of no vacations, tired of delayed cancer screening and injury diagnosis, tired of worrying about 'Bent being in one of the most high risk professions for infection, tired of gypsy moth caterpillars chomping our trees and pooping on our patio, tired of AdventureDog barking in my ear when I put on my shoes, tired of a toddler "leading" the U.S., tired of everything being cancelled, tired of poison ivy and ticks, tired of our fridge freezing vegetables on hot days... You name it, I'd had enough of it at that moment, lol! I know everyone is challenged right now, many people much more so than I am. This was really unusual for me. Luckily, the first kilometre of running mostly dried my tears.

In the off-season, I bought two SUPs. Because we stayed at home all spring, I hadn't picked up the 2nd SUP or the two paddles from the former White Squall Paddling Centre in Nobel. It finally seemed reasonable to make a quick day trip to get them.

While we were in the neighbourhood, we hoped to take the SUPs for a test paddle and say a distanced hello to the Wadd Squad. It worked out perfectly since they were going paddling on Nine Mile Lake around noon. Hammer, Etoile and AdventureGirl! had just expanded their bubble to include GHOSlow and Sue, which was wonderful news.

Here's Hammer starting to paddle from Nine Mile Lake Beach in his beautiful wooden kayak.



It was fantastic to be on the water, surrounded by rugged Canadian Shield scenery.

'Bent and I had to get used to the new SUPs, which are a bit tippier than the SUPs we've used in yoga class. Compared to our fast canoes and kayaks, they feel a bit like pigs because I got ones that would be stable enough for yoga as well as paddling. But they're fine and nobody fell into the lake although 'Bent had a close call.



By the way, they are both *my* SUPs since 'Bent made it clear last fall that he didn't want one. I got two SUPs and paddles anyway so I can set up a guest to paddle with me. Today 'Bent was lucky to be my +1. :)



We headed into a beautiful bay to the west and paddled around a bit.





Then we all stopped for a distanced conversation break on shore (time deducted). It's still a wonderful novelty to talk to friends in person!



Here's what a group selfie looks like in the time of Covid.



And here's the Wadd Squad's new album cover.



We headed back first because we had to get home to the pooches. Thanks to Etoile for a rare photo of the two of us.

When I chose the "We're Going Streaking" challenge for yesterday's run, I'd forgotten that our trip up north today would make it tempting to have Saturday night Happy Hour as soon as we got home. But I needed a 45+ minute run to keep the streak going. I re-read the challenge description to see if I could hop on the air-conditioned treadmill but the wording was, "Head out your door, fully clothed, for at least 3 straight days." So I ran around the trails of Palgrave West and sweated up a storm.

I planned to choose a challenge for today's run from the CMTR Summer Scavenger Hunt list, and I realized that rural Palgrave is not the ideal place for some of these challenges. Two of them involve making a purchase during the run. One challenge is to be a cheerleader to the other runners you see. Another challenge involves running up 2,000 steps and another involves running on a track. (What track could I run on? Anyone?) And there's a challenge to dress in 80s neon colours - or as close as you can - to make a spectacle of yourself. I can do that one here but nobody will notice.

I picked an easy-ish one: the "We're Going Streaking!" challenge. It requires 3+ days in a row of 45+ minutes of (fully clothed) running. I can do that around here. In the unlikely event that I saw another runner, I decided that I would cheer them on and switch to the Cheerleader Challenge partway through. You can't use the same run for two different challenges, and you can't do two challenges on the same day. If not for those two rules, it would be fun to see how many challenges I could complete in a day - but those are good rules.

Some of the challenges are better suited to the Collingwood area so I'll have to plan ahead.

Oh, right - the run. I ran to Palgrave East and came back through Palgrave West, finishing on the Pandemic Gumby Trail. So hot. The weather - not me, obviously.

Got a minute? Check out this fun quarantine Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim run.
https://trailrunnermag.com/video/watch-rim-2-rim-2...

Encouraging news in Ontario over the past couple of weeks - higher levels of Covid-19 testing, a drop in daily new cases and a steady decrease in the number of active cases, hospitalizations and people on ventilators. Here in Caledon, there are 12 known active cases in a population of 72,000. (We're still in Stage 1 of the reopening though. Boo, Brampton and Mississauga!)

Ontario has been reopening gradually over the past month. So far, it seems like the new normal is working reasonably well. It won't be life as we knew it for a long time but this makes me optimistic that life can include more of the things that are important and enjoyable without putting vulnerable people at risk.

Zoom Boot Camp for athletes with Mrs. Gally. There's limited room available if a few more victims would like to join us on Wednesdays at 5 pm - or even just *one* Wednesday at 5 pm. $10. You need a mat, a resistance band or towel, and one or two sets of dumbbells for full body exercises - not too heavy unless you're into that sort of thing. You can make it as hard or as easy as you like. Mrs. G. is great at checking our form and offering modifications or alternative exercises if anyone has an injury. It's nice to have a weekly virtual date with new and old friends.



The Summer Scavenger Hunt includes one badge for a strength/stretching activity so I claimed it today.

I signed up for another virtual race - the Coast Mountain Trail Running Summer Scavenger Hunt.

Gary Robbins (of Barkley Marathons fame) and Geoff Langford (of Raid The North fame) organize trail races in B.C., one of which I'm registered for in September. They donate a portion of the entry fee to trail maintenance, a cause they usually support with their races.

There are 30 challenges to complete over the summer, mostly running and mostly not very difficult. They just give you a theme for your run, then you can get creative. When you complete a challenge, you claim a badge. There are about 2,000 people registered so far, including Leanne Mueller in France.

Today I did the Loop de Loop challenge where you run at least 5 repeats of a loop with a minimum time of 45 minutes. I ran the 1 km loop from our front door that goes through our neighbour's property and back to our place. Clearly I was aiming for the minimum time. 'Bent and I had a tough day, and this was all I had in me.

We had our first booking at our back yard campsite tonight! Goose and Coach LD rode their fully loaded bikes up to our place. We had a campfire and chatted from a distance and it was wonderful to see humans.









'Bent had a really bad day at work. This helped.



Coach LD was explaining social distancing.



I hope we left them enough firewood!

'Bent and I had a short back yard chat with the Gallys when we stopped by to exchange outdoor gear and gawk at their 800 lb gazebo that flew into their neighbour's yard in last week's storm. Yikes!

Then we continued to Collingwood Harbour for a protected Georgian Bay paddle. 'Bent loves boats so we checked out a couple of yacht clubs.







Things are not looking good for the Hen and Chicken Trail, which I ran with Coach LD a couple of winters ago. There were some puddles to hop in the past. Now it's a paddling route. (The trail used to connect to that bridge.)

'Bent and I went exploring to see whether we could find a good way into Pretty River Valley Provincial Park from the northeast corner of the park. It is possible to follow Side Road 6 up the escarpment but the road passes through a yucky pond. (Thank you, Mr. Beaver.) A local Hummer tour company takes tourists down the road and through the pond.

We did find dry-footed routes around each side of the pond although they involved some bushwhacking, likely some trespassing and a big dose of poison ivy at the end. Nope.

'Bent and I haven't been out paddling this year so we took AdventureDog and a picnic lunch out to the Beaver River. We paddled upstream from Heathcote then turned around. There was one large group but otherwise we didn't see many other paddlers. It was peaceful, beautiful and *different* - which is a big deal these days. We're pretty sure we saw a bald eagle. We also had a great close-up view of an oriole and a bunch of red-winged blackbirds. I'm not sure who was smiling more about being back on the water: 'Bent or AdventureDog.

Later in the day, we dropped off a few things for the Millers. Because of our "no locals" rule this weekend, we just had a short back yard chat. We met wee Heath Miller in person, which was pretty awesome. (Photos are blown up. Sadly, we weren't that close.)





Then we took the pooches for a walk around Thornbury Harbour.





And we got educated.



Then we got takeout from our favourite restaurant up here, Crow Bar. They haven't forgotten how to cook. I hope they can hang in there. They have a small, crowded space with regular live music - not the best thing for the next couple of years, unfortunately.

After 3 months of sticking around home, 'Bent and I made the trip to Tree Hugger ABC in Collingwood today. Mr. Gally has been checking on the condo for us but I expected we'd find some expired food in the fridge and musty laundry in the hamper. When we left after a great ski weekend on March 15, we had no idea that we would be gone until summer. Things actually weren't too bad.

We were so appreciative just to see new views on our drive. The little things have come to mean more - one of the few positive sides of the pandemic.

However, the Town of Collingwood is still asking people not to make day trips or visit their second homes up here. We've stayed away when most people haven't. There are no known active cases here so I understand their concerns about out-of-towners.

Our compromise for this weekend is that we will avoid interacting with locals. We bought gas before we left. We don't plan to go into shops or sit on the newly opened restaurant patios. We turned down invitations to hike with friends or meet them for back yard drinks. But it occurred to me that the Tarnos are *not* locals, even though we see them up here. Their Covid risk is probably similar to ours. So we arranged to meet them for distanced BYO drinks on their deck around sunset. It was my first in-person social get-together with friends since the shutdown. It was really chilly but it was so nice to have a conversation without a computer screen in the middle. As Ontario's case numbers go down, I look forward to more of those.

Zoom Boot Camp led by Mrs. Gally with Browner and a couple of Mrs. G's other friends. Sweat fest on a hot day, even in the basement! Mrs. G. now has Zoom Pro so she can keep the class going for as long as she wants. Nice to see friendly faces.

So I said, “You’ll have to keep them leashed in the yard in the mornings until the skunk moves out.”

“Nah, they’ve learned their lesson,” he said.



What a sad-looking AdventureDog. :(

Today I was Patient #1 at the Elm Tree Dental Clinic after their 3-month closure: the guinea pig. It is definitely not business as usual. They are purposely limiting the number of appointments (only 3 patients today), and there are many new and enhanced protocols in place to keep patients and staff safe.

This is the new entrance to the clinic with Covid screening being done in the old garage to reduce the risk of an infected person entering the clinic. I'm guessing people kept their horses in here when this building was a hotel back in the late 1800s. Who could have imagined this?



Physical distancing requires space, and outdoor settings are safer than indoor ones. This is the clinic's new back yard gazebo, which will soon have tent walls with bug netting covered by a rainproof layer. There are lots of possible uses for an outdoor room during a pandemic. (Sadly, they won't be able to sit together around that table for lunch anymore.)



The guidelines allow Ontario dentists to use their judgement about which treatments are appropriate for which patients at this stage of the pandemic. Each office will reflect different decisions on that. 'Bent plans to take things slowly and not worry about making it financially viable for a while. Vulnerable people are still supposed to stay home so they should only get dental work if they have an emergency. Some treatments are riskier (mostly to the health care provider) than others so they may not be offered in the short term.



In spite of the weirdness of the new normal, 'Bent looked visibly relieved to be back in his comfort zone - fixing teeth instead of applying for government wage subsidies or trying to source N95 masks. I'm happy for him and for his staff, who have been working hard to get ready.



Sadly, the clinic's two canine employees are still on long term leave while the pandemic continues, and they were *seriously* miffed to be left at home!

This is a Big Day at our house. Since March 15, 'Bent and I haven't had any planned, in-person social interactions but we decided that we're ready for some limited outdoor interactions. Today 'Bent's immunocompromised friend, who is retiring from dentistry because the risk from Covid is too great, arranged to stop by during his motorcycle ride. The two of them are sitting 4 meters apart at our new campsite and they wore masks until they sat down. After a brief hello, I'm staying the heck away. This is a guy who really must not get sick. It was an unusual choice for our first visitor but at least he knows about avoiding risks so it's not all up to us. And I'm sure he needs to talk.

Correction: I realized after I wrote this that it was only *my* first planned, in-person social interaction. I was forgetting about 'Bent's first back yard get-together at his Mom's house last week.

I took a week off running after the Limitless Vertical Challenge to give my heel a break. There's nothing like climbing a bunch of hills to get back into trail running after Achilles troubles! But honestly, it's a bit sore after I go biking and *really* sore after I go grocery shopping or do housework. So I may as well do some running.

I was going to run the Oak Ridges Trail to Centreville Creek Rd. and back but when I got to busy Gore Road, I couldn't face running along it to the next section of trail. Some nice person had mowed most of the grassy trails in the block of conservation land between Humber Station Rd. and Gore Rd. so I ran there instead. I didn't see a soul and I'll bet there's very little traffic at any time. I came home via the Oak Ridges Trail through our block of land.

A quick test of the Pandemic Gumby Trail at 'Bent's request so I could give feedback on his latest work. It was my first time around the loop without putting my foot down so things are trending well.

'Bent and I got out for a great ride on a busy day. Now that Albion Hills is open for biking, Palgrave Forest is fairly peaceful again, even on a sunny Saturday afternoon. We'd had some rain earlier that may have scared people off.



When we got back to our property, we rode the Pandemic Gumby Trail** so I could show 'Bent the spots where I was sliding down the hill. Most of it is fun and rideable now. Maybe a few less branches to the face would be nice but I could fix that myself. This view is just before the trail entrance.



**The trail name is just a working title for now - a combination of 'Bent's name and Super's name. As a reminder, here's what it looks like, including the loop back to our house.



Now that I see today's route to and from the conservation land of Palgrave West including the Pandemic Gumby Trail, I'm calling it the Tasmanian Devil Loop.

For a change, here's something that is easier because of the pandemic. 'Bent did a 4-hour course on Biomimetic Dentistry organized by a centre in Melbourne, Australia, featuring an expert in New Zealand, attracting an audience of 225 dentists from around the world. Normally, he would have to fly to the U.S. or Australia to take this course. The only down side: it started at 7 pm on a Saturday night.



The mosquitoes came out and it got chilly but he stuck it out on the patio.



The other thing that's easier in a pandemic is updating our wills and powers of attorney. We can do it by video without going to a lawyer's office. Yay!

Today was 'Bent's first day back at work since Ontario dental offices were shut down on March 15. Apparently that stresses me out; I couldn’t fall asleep until almost 4 am. There are dozens of new guidelines and procedures so today he and his staff planned how it's all going to work. Everyone will be masked and trying to stay 2 meters apart as much as possible, which will make it harder to work together.

It won't be business as usual. They won't be doing every kind of procedure or treating every kind of patient. There aren't many hard restrictions. Each dentist can choose their own level of risk tolerance for themselves and their patients, and use that to determine which types of appointments they think should happen right now.

‘Bent and his staff got professionally fit tested for N95 masks today so now they know which models to buy if they can find any for sale! Luckily, they don't need N95s for every procedure so they'll still be able to move forward.



Although the provincial reopening gives the impression that we can all be less careful now, Ontario is really not doing well. The good news is that hospitalizations and ventilator use are steadily declining.



The bad news is that the daily new cases have been stuck around the same level for the past month. Ontario flattened the curve and established criteria for different phases of reopening, then proceeded to reopen even though we didn't meet the criteria. Even Québec is doing better. :(



With 'Bent returning to work, our family's interactions with the outside world have been greatly increased so to balance it, we'll try not to expand our non-work world too much until the case numbers drop.

'Bent and I built the fire pit for our back yard campsite today. There was a fire pit back there years ago but it had grown in so we got it bulldozed recently. We have a ton of bricks that were used in the original fire pit so we just had to choose the design and exact location.



'Bent and AdventureDog are standing on the main tent site. There is a mountain bike trail leading from the tent door.







Next I need to buy a fire permit. The final challenge is finding a way to deal with the thunderbox situation. Hmm...

It's official. Wilderness Traverse 2020 has been cancelled. Stoopid pandemic.
https://www.wildernesstraverse.com/so/20N9-vtW_?fb...

I think le Purr de France may be my next virtual race: 21 days of biking out of 23 days in July. They're raising money for Bikes without Borders, and the entry fees will also help to support the Ontario race directors of the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series. I haven't done 5 Peaks races in a long time but the current RDs seem like super nice people who volunteer for an animal rescue organization in between planning events.

Participants can choose one of 5 challenge levels ranging from 4 hrs 15 mins of riding each week (spread out over 7 days) to 12 hrs 30 mins. They'll assign different challenges for each day to keep it interesting (hills, speed) but it's pretty casual. It's OK to ride indoors or outdoors. I may just sign up for a low level so I'll feel motivated to ride more often.
https://raceroster.com/events/2020/31931/the-purr-...

Steve Walker of the Nottawalkers AR team, a friend of Chris Laughren's, phoned last night to see if I would look for his son's favourite mountain bike gloves, which he'd left on the bumper of their truck before they drove away from Albion Hills yesterday. I searched up and down Duffy's Lane and rode east on Patterson Sideroad most of the way to the traffic light. No gloves. I think someone found them.

I was glad to have the excuse to ride before the day got too hot. There is now a sign asking bikers to enter Albion Hills through the main entrance on Hwy 50 so they can control numbers. In the past, they've always had a policy of allowing people to enter the park without an entry fee if they arrive on foot or bike so I didn't worry about it. They might start ticketing cars but I don't think they'll care about locals riding in the back gate.

I rode all the singletrack and most of the double track in the northwest quadrant, then I took the rail trail to Palgrave village and rode the sidewalk to Palgrave Forest. There is a nice trail in the centre of Palgrave East that usually becomes unrideable due to poison ivy right around now. I rode it for the last time until October then went home and scrubbed my legs with dish soap! The trail isn't too bad yet but the vegetation is just starting to get lush.

'Bent did some more work on our back yard bike trail so I gave it another shot. I was able to ride most of it this time but it was hard to get traction on the loose soil in the first section.

Zoom Boot Camp with Mrs. Gally, Browner and Lynn. Tough, fun workout as always. It's nice to see familiar faces.

Bad news - she's upgrading to the pro version of Zoom so now there won't be a 40-minute time limit, lol!

It's going to take a while for organizers to verify and finalize the results of the virtual Limitless Vertical Challenge but it looks like the top runners have been confirmed. The overall winner, Sean Nakamura, took the sneaky approach of uploading all his results on Day 7. He crushed the event with over 150,000 feet of climb on a treadmill in a week. Impressive but I would never, ever, ever, ever want to do that.



Two runners climbed over 100,000 feet, including James Blandford who did it all outside - the hard way. He spent all his time climbing and descending two different hills in Pennsylvania, one of which was only 80 m tall. I think they said they would create a different category for outdoor-only runners. That's my category too.

The Level 6 Double Everest goal of 58,058 feet was reached by 77 runners - wow. Almost 1,000 runners took part. At the moment, I'm 244th of 374 women, not that ranking means much. I'm not going to do many virtual races but it gave me some variety, motivation and connection to the running community while supporting a good race organization. So that's good. :)

Late yesterday, Ontario dentists received guidelines for the reopening of dental offices for all procedures. They've been closed since March 15. There will be some revised, science-based protocols and standards to ensure safety of patients and staff. Most dental offices won't be opening just yet; they'll need a little time to get ready.

A few hours later, 'Bent learned that his claim for Pandemic Outbreak coverage has finally been approved - only two months after we really could have used the money - woo hoo! Apparently, they had to think about it. It only covers two weeks of wages but that's something. We're moving forward into the New Normal.

Truth be told, we're both a bit bummed this happened before 'Bent finished the bike trails or perfected his homemade pizza crust. If there's one good thing to come out of the pandemic, it's that 'Bent's longstanding fear of boredom during retirement has vanished. Every evening he looks at me incredulously and says, "The days are just packed!" And that's while we're staying around home and not seeing friends. Of course, we'll spend a lot less time applying for government assistance and meeting plexiglass vendors during retirement. At least, we sure hope so!

Normally, I wouldn't log this but this was my first attempt to ride our new home mountain bike trails. They are scenic but several sections feel risky on my bike compared to 'Bent's bike, which is almost impossible to fall off. They'll be nice once the soil isn't so loose and the trail has less camber. Yesterday's photo shows the area. This is what it looks like on a map. Our new visitor campsite is at the north side of the forest, downhill and out of sight of the house. We need to get working on the fire pit.

Mrs. Gally had asked Dee, Browner, 'Bent and me to take part in a Zoom yoga class for her final exam after 200 hours of yoga instructor training. Unfortunately, her Internet was having a really bad day so she eventually gave up on the idea of recording the class for her submission.

She taught us the rest of the class anyway and it was fun - lots of hip openers. 'Bent and I set up our mats on the patio under a beautiful sky. We watched clouds swirling and saw a heron fly overhead. When we designed the patio, I asked for it to be expanded so I could exercise out there. That really needs to happen more often.